November 14, 2003Dr. Roberta Ervine, Associate Professor of Armenian Studies at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary in New Rochelle, NY, will be the featured speaker at St. George Armenian Church, Hartford, Connecticut on Saturday, November 22, 2003, at 2:00 PM. Dr. Ervine will speak about St. Gregory of Narek's masterpiece,Prayer Book of Lamentations in commemoration of the 1,000 year anniversary of this great father of the Armenian Church. The monumental work is also known by the title of one its 95 chapters, Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart.

Dr. Roberta Ervine is a graduate of Columbia University with extensive teaching experience at all levels. During her tenure at Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1995-2001) she taught a wide spectrum of courses in Armenian Studies and developed graduate as well as undergraduate curricula. She is the author of numerous books and articles on medieval Armenian literature. At St. Nersess Seminary she is currently teaching courses on the history of the Armenian Church during the Cilician era, along with courses in Modern and Classical Armenian.

Following Dr. Ervine's presentation, the St. George altar servers will perform hymns in honor of St. Gregory. A reception will follow. For further information contact the St. George church office at (860) 956 5647.

October 30, 2003Dr. Abraham Terian, Academic Dean of St. Nersess Armenian Seminary in New Rochelle, NY, was one of the invited speakers at the International Workshop of the Association Internationale des Etudes Armeniennes, conducted in Venice, Italy on October 20-21. The two-day conference, entitled, "Society and Religious Thought in Armenia" brought together a wide range of renowned authorities from around the world to present papers on current issues and progress in various fields under the umbrella of Armenian Studies. Dr. Terian's presentation, entitled "Monasticism in Armenia and Armenian Spirituality," examined the origins of Christian monasticism in Armenia and outlined the phases of its development as well as its distinctive features compared to the Syrian, Greek, Egyptian and other monastic traditions.

Dr. Terian was also a featured speaker at the symposium, "Holy Etchmiadzin: Yesterday's Heritage, Today's Mission, Tomorrow's Hopes," commemorating the1700th Anniversary of the construction of the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin. The symposium was held in Etchmiadzin from September 12-14. Terian presented a paper on the theological significance of the name of the Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin, which was originally named after Mary the Mother of God.

The following week at a major scholarly congress in Yerevan hosted by the National Academy of Sciences in Armenia, Terian lectured on the earliest schools of philosophy in ancient Armenian literature.

Just a few weeks later, on October 10-11, Terian lectured at yet another international conference, this one at Harvard University, dedicated to the millennium of the death of the great Armenian mystic St. Gregory of Narek. There, Terian examined a little-known liturgical work of St. Gregory of Narek in honor of St. Gregory the Illuminator.

Between scholarly conferences Terian was invited to speak at St. John the Baptist Armenian Church in Greenfield, WI and St. George Armenian Church, Waukegan, IL on various topics related to Armenia's Christian heritage.

On returning home from all of his travels Terian said, "It has been exciting to participate in all of these conferences recently, but I must admit, it's good to be back home with my students at St. Nersess!" This semester Terian is teaching two Master's level courses at St. Nersess: "Themes in Armenian Theology," and "Teachings of the Armenian Church Fathers."

October 29, 2003Where would you go to find the oldest surviving Armenian writing? The Mashdots Manuscript Repository in Yerevan? St. Mesrob Mashdots' grave in Oshakan? It may come as a surprise, but the oldest recorded written Armenian is found far from the place of its creation.

On Monday, November 17 Dr. Michael Stone, Professor of Armenian Studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, will lecture at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary on "Newly-Discovered Armenian Inscriptions in the Holy Land."

The oldest Armenian characters are inscribed in stone along ancient pilgrimage routes in and around Palestine and Sinai. Some of these date to the fifth century, soon after the holy translators Sts. Sahak and Mesrob created the Armenian alphabet. Dr. Stone has photographed and analyzed these inscriptions. He will discuss their historical significance during his lecture.

Michael E. Stone is author and editor of over 50 books and 260 articles in the fields of Armenian Studies and Ancient Judaism. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard, Yale and Leiden (Holland) Universities, the University of Richmond, the University of Melbourne (Australia) and many others. He holds a PhD from Harvard and a LittD from Melbourne University and is currently the Senior Visiting Fellow at the Kluge Center of the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Apart from his vast contributions to Armenian Studies, Dr. Stone has wide experience in the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, an area in which he is considered one of the world's preeminent scholars. Dr. Stone was the Founding Chairman and President of the international association of armenologists, the "Association des Etudes Armeniennes."

"Dr. Stone's years of hands-on research and documentation of the ancient Armenian inscriptions in the Holy Land gives him an extraordinary perspective on a very intriguing topic. We are honored and delighted to have him speak at St. Nersess," said V. Rev. Fr. Daniel Findikyan, Seminary Dean.

Professor Stone's lecture, which will be accompanied by slides, is scheduled for 7:30pm at the Seminary, in New Rochelle, New York. It is open to the public. For further information call the Seminary at (914) 636-2003 or write to info@stnersess.edu.